The United States and its allies are the targets of attacks by terrorists or criminals who use weapons based on energetic materials (EM) such as explosives, biological weapons, or energy weapons. Such attacks may affect personnel and installations with possible significant casualties. In the past decade, the U.S. experienced about 3,000 explosions a year that warranted forensic investigation. (Comm Assessment Sec Tech for Transp, Nat'l Res Coun, 2004; Mostak P (2004); Sanchez et al (2007).
Improved near-range and standoff detection of EM is essential for defeating those who would use EM-based weapons and propellants against the U.S., its allies, and innocent people (McConnell J M (2008) Annual Threat Assessment of the Director of National Intelligence; Blair, D C (2009) Annual Threat Assessment of the Intelligence Community for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.). A spectrum of EM detection tools is necessary to protect and defend people from EM based attacks.
Thus, there exists a need for a robust, selective, and readily tailored detection system for various target species including explosives, chemical and/or biological weapons such as weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) as well as ionizing radiation.